Lapsio
by frozencinders
Summary: Gan Ning finds himself a whole new problem to deal with. He only wonders why he continues to let it be something that needs dealing with.


It was difficult for Gan Ning to act naturally around Ling Tong ever since the first time he'd become an accidental voyeur, but he couldn't even bring himself to look the brunet in the eye when he found himself going back every night, silently hoping he'd catch it happening again. Hoping he would be able to watch that silky, beautiful hair splay out beneath Ling Tong as he was pinned to his bed by a man Gan Ning wouldn't recognize, giving coarse little moans and sighs as something happened to the half of his body the blond couldn't see from the tiny slit between the door and the frame.

Just the brunet's face was enough for Gan Ning, enough to get him addicted faster than anything else in his life ever had. Even the sea took a while for the pirate to get used to; he'd get sick and wasn't as trusting of his ship to keep him afloat- or the weather, for that matter. But this, just watching his unfortunately platonic rival moving with the bed, trying his best to stay quiet and having to bring a hand to his mouth when whoever he chose to sleep with for the night hit just the right spot in him.

The men never stayed, either. They wouldn't kiss him or hold him or even say anything as they pulled their clothes on and left, always conveniently not noticing Gan Ning as he walked as nonchalantly as possible in the opposite direction. Gan Ning was aware he was attracted to Ling Tong for quite a while, years even, but the blond wasn't sure what to make of how he felt when he saw those men just... leave, completely unaware of what they were giving up. Sometimes, Gan Ning would have sex dreams about Ling Tong, but the act itself was mostly a blur. He always remembered the moments after, watching the brunet try to catch his breath, looking a little angry as the pirate pulled him closer, but allowing it nonetheless...

He'd thought about what he would do if he got caught. Lying was the obvious thing to do, but the trick was figuring out what kind of lie would fool Ling Tong. Every night that he watched, he came up with a different story. "I was just passing by and thought I heard something" was the first one. "I came to ask if you wanted to go out drinking with me" was the second, and he felt a little bad knowing the brunet would say no if he did have to use that one. "The old man told me to try to talk to you more often" was, in his opinion, the best excuse he'd come up with. Fortunately, he'd never had to use any of them, but it was good to have them just in case.

Just as Gan Ning was about to take another sip from his drink he'd been neglecting in favor of thinking, he saw Ling Tong walk by, his scent faint on the wind but still reaching the pirate and snapping him out of his slight daze. He was talking to another man, one Gan Ning vaguely recognized as maybe the third or fourth he'd saw sleeping with the brunet. Gan Ning sat there, glass still raised to his mouth, which was slightly agape, and stared as Ling Tong sat on the man's lap and nuzzled at him, earning a laugh.

Something about the scene sparked a rage in Gan Ning. He set his glass down none too gently and grit his teeth together. The asshole had left without saying goodbye, without even paying Ling Tong any mind, and now he's being showered in affection by the same man he had abandoned? He didn't deserve it! Gan Ning... didn't deserve it either, he realized. At the same time, he also realized he shouldn't care, or even pay attention to it. Most importantly, he should stop going to Ling Tong's door every night, but the blond knew he wouldn't stop. While he was fuming, he didn't notice Ling Tong getting up and walking back over to him, one hand on the table and the other on his hip.

"What's your problem?" he asked, apparently having noticed Gan Ning's frustration.

"You get cuddly like that with every guy you meet?" the blond asked back, still unable to really look at Ling Tong.

"Every guy who didn't kill my father? Sure," the brunet retorted, "but I meant in general. You won't even fight with me, or talk at all. Usually talking is the only thing you can do besides fighting, and I can't possibly imagine you could be thinking while you do either of those."

Ling Tong was clearly trying to egg him on, but he wasn't as angry as when they usually fought. The brunet knew something was wrong, and was just trying to regain a sense of normalcy. Gan Ning tried, really tried to think of an answer, but he drew a complete blank, instead choosing to finish his drink and walk away. Ling Tong huffed and chased after him, grabbing his arm in the hallway in an attempt to stop him, but since the pirate never wore a shirt, his grip wasn't strong enough to keep him in place. Instead, Ling Tong settled for grabbing that mess of hair on Gan Ning's head, causing him to wince and lean his head back as he stopped.

"Alright, I'm serious. What's wrong with you?" Ling Tong walked in front of Gan Ning as he let go of the blond's hair. "You won't even look at me."

Gan Ning looked up into the brunet's eyes, unable to hold his gaze for long and choosing to stare at the floor again.

"Is the gravity of what you did finally hitting you?" Gan Ning waited a moment and thought.

"What if it is? Does it make a difference?" Ling Tong huffed again, smiling just slightly.

"Then I'd expect an apology. So, where is it?"

"What, is that all you want? I'm sorry. What now, are you gonna-" Gan Ning was about to make a horrible mistake on his part, but Ling Tong beat him to it. The brunet's lips were off of his own before he even realized they were on him in the first place.

"Don't expect it to happen again. I'm a little drunk," Ling Tong informed, smile still present, "but what were you gonna say?"

Gan Ning tried desperately to think of a lie, any lie. Anything that wasn't "are you gonna sleep with me now, too?" Unfortunately, nothing clever came to mind.

"I was, uh... about to ask if you were gonna do that, actually." Gan Ning figured it was close enough to what he was going to say, and Ling Tong was drunk enough not to notice it was a poorly formed lie.

"Did you want me to?" the brunet asked, moving closer again. He closed his eyes, breath hot and smelling like delicious liquor mere centimeters away from Gan Ning, and he couldn't take it. The blond pulled Ling Tong closer by his shirt, roughly pushing him up against the wall beside them and kissing him for much longer than the first. Ling Tong even let it happen, only breaking away when he needed air.

"Thought you said it wasn't gonna happen again," Gan Ning half-joked, half-hoped. Full hoped, actually. The pirate's hopes had never soared so high than that very moment. And whatever gods he may or may not have believed in decided to grant him one little miracle.

"You know, I actually made this bet with a buddy of mine," the brunet started, "three whole months of free drinks if I can sleep with every officer in the army besides our lord and a few other exceptions..."

Gan Ning couldn't believe his ears, and he certainly couldn't talk, or even form a coherent thought.

"You weren't on the list of exceptions, and my deadline's coming up soon..." Ling Tong started tracing playful little circles on Gan Ning's shoulder, "maybe you could help me out?"

The pirate didn't need to be asked twice, or even once, really, before he removed Ling Tong from the wall and focused all his energy on trying to remember where one of their rooms was from there. They, of course, ended up in a storage closet instead. Unfortunately, the brunet hadn't stayed drunk the next morning, and then it was Ling Tong's turn not to look at Gan Ning as he angrily huffed and walked away whenever the blond was in the same room for at least a week. But hey, Gan Ning hadn't eavesdropped on Ling Tong since. He supposed his addiction had been satisfied.


End file.
